


To Build A Home

by seaunicorn



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Friends to Lovers, Pining, Roommates, Tinder, Tinder Dating, temporary roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-30 03:14:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8516326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seaunicorn/pseuds/seaunicorn
Summary: Maggie's apartment is on fire, so she shows up on Alex's doorstep... and Alex could never say no to Maggie.





	1. Don't Feel Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on a Tumblr prompt that spiraled out of control.

As much as Alex loves spending time with her sister, she enjoys the quiet of her own apartment.  It seems as though, lately, she has been spending more time at Kara’s place than her own and that needs to change.  Alex likes her apartment.

It’s much smaller than Kara’s, but that’s how she likes it.  The kitchen spills into the living room, and there’s no proper dining room so her table is squeezed in the corner; there’s only one bedroom.  And sure, the ambiance is a little darker with the dark carpet instead of wood floor and the black couch, but that just makes it easier to not make a mess.  Alex has many a memory of scrubbing red wine stains out of that light gray couch at Kara’s place.

But this place is quiet, and it’s _hers_ , so coming home to unwind after a long day of work is the best feeling in the world.

Alex strips down the moment she arrives home, shedding her leather jacket from her shoulders and kicks her shoes off her feet.  She steps into the bathroom and turns on the shower, then removes the rest of her clothes and gets in.  Alex sighs in relief as the hot water scalds her skin, and she scrubs off the dirt and grime from a long day of fighting aliens.

When Alex finishes her quick shower, she changes into sweats and a gray tank top, opting for comfort for the rest of the night.  She patters over to the kitchen and pulls a bottle of bourbon from the top shelf, pouring herself a glass with two ice cubes.  She takes a sip, and relishes in the familiar burn that follows.  Kara never knew how she could drink this without a chaser, and Alex isn’t going to tell her it comes from years of practice.

Alex is ready to flip on the television and watch the first trashy reality show she could find when there’s a knock at the door.  Instinct tells Alex to grab her gun, which she does, although if someone were trying to break into her apartment she doubts that they would have the courtesy to knock.

Alex peers through the peephole to find Maggie on the other side.  She sets her gun down on the counter and opens the door wide.

“Hey, Danvers,” Maggie says with a nervous wave.

Alex tilts her head and looks at Maggie curiously.  “What are you doing here?”

Maggie looks Alex up and down, obviously taking in her damp hair and attire, and her tongue darts out to lick her lips.  “Um—“ she stutters.  “I’m so sorry, I’m intruding.  I’ll see you later.”

Maggie starts to walk away, but Alex knows something is bothering her; Maggie came here for a reason.  Alex steps out the door and follows her down the hall quickly to grab her arm and stop her.  “Hey, Maggie,” Alex starts with a concerned frown.  “What’s up?”

Maggie purses her lips and sighs.  “My apartment building is on fire,” she says flatly.

Alex’s mouth drops open in surprise.  “W-what?”

Maggie brushes some hair out of her face.  “Yeah, I got home and everyone’s outside.  Fire trucks.  Smoking building.  The whole enchilada.”

“Shit,” Alex mutters.  “That sucks.”

“Tell me about it,” Maggie chuckles.  “So my asshole landlord just sends us off, doesn’t help us make any accommodations or anything.  Says we can come back in a week once the gas line is fixed and the smoke and debris are cleared out.”

“Okay,” Alex frowns.  “So what are you saying?”

Maggie looks down at the ground, studying her feet.  Alex has never seen Maggie lacking so much confidence before.  “I need a place to say,” Maggie mutters.  “And you’re—you’re kind of my only friend here.”  Alex softens at this confession, and it obviously wasn’t easy for Maggie to admit.  “I just haven’t been here that long,” Maggie continues.  “And work keeps me pretty busy.  I just haven’t really had the time to make many friends.”

Alex nods in understanding, but wanting to lighten the mood, she quips, “But you _do_ have time for hot dates every other night?”  She winces listening to the twinge of jealousy in her own voice and hopes Maggie doesn’t notice.

Maggie smiles at this, though, and it lifts Alex’s heart to see her smile again.  “Hey,” she defended.  “Dating is much easier than friendship.”

“Speak for yourself,” Alex says.  She takes a couple steps backward to open her apartment door again and holds it, gesturing for Maggie to enter.  “You coming or not?”

Maggie’s mouth gapes, speechless for a moment, but she smiles and nervously bites on her lip.  “Danvers, you don’t have to,” she mumbles.  “I can get a hotel or something—“

“Maggie, get your ass in here before I drag you inside.”

Maggie grins, shakes her head, and steps into Alex’s apartment.  Alex suddenly can’t remember the last time she cleaned the place up, but shrugs the thought away.  Maggie is already inside and it was too late to do anything about it now.  She closes the door behind them and bolts it shut.

“Nice digs,” Maggie muses, glancing around at the place.  She eyes the gun on the counter and smiles in amusement.  “Let me guess, first thing you did when I knocked was grab the gun?”

“You know me too well,” Alex confesses with a shrug.

“Nah,” Maggie says.  “I do the same thing.”

Alex suddenly feels calm.  Despite the unexpected intrusion on her night, she’s glad that it’s Maggie.  “Do you want a drink?” she asks.  “You could probably use one, after the night you’ve had.”

“God, yes,” Maggie sighs.  “Something stronger than beer, please.”

“Bourbon, rocks, coming up.”

Alex returns to the kitchen to pour Maggie a drink.  She fills a glass and sets it on the coffee table.

“Thanks,” Maggie mutters.  She grabs it and takes a sip, coughing at the taste.  “That’s some strong shit.”

“Not a bourbon girl?” Alex calls out as she heads to her bedroom.

“Not really, but I’ll take it,” she hears Maggie’s response from the living room.  Alex digs through her closet for an extra pillow and blanket that she brings back out.  “Here,” Alex says as she drops them off on the couch.  “It’s not much, but you can have the couch.”

“It’s perfect,” Maggie says.

“Do you—I mean, do you need to borrow some clothes?” Alex asks when she notices that Maggie doesn’t have a bag or anything with her.

Maggie shrugs, embarrassed.  “I wasn’t gonna ask, but if you don’t mind…”

Alex nods, and returns to her room, digging through her dresser for something comfortable for Maggie to change into.  She finds an old pair of sweats and a Stanford shirt that she hasn’t worn in years, bundles them up, and brings them back out to Maggie.

“Bathroom’s through that door over there,” Alex says, pointing it out.  “Um, holler if you need anything?”

Maggie nods again and offers Alex a shy smile.  Before she heads into the bathroom to change, she nudges Alex gently.  “Hey, Danvers,” she says.  “Thanks.”

“You said that already.”

Maggie shrugs.  “I know.”

Alex watches the bathroom door close behind Maggie and lets out a long sigh.  This is not how she pictured her night going.  She reaches out for her own glass of bourbon and finishes the drink in one swig, coughing at the large gulp.  She set the glass in the sink and grabs a beer from the fridge.  She fumbles with the bottle opener for a moment, and gets the cap off just as Maggie leaves the bathroom.

Alex takes a sip of beer as she glances up at Maggie, and almost chokes on her drink at the sight of Maggie in her clothes.  The old sweats are a little too long on her, and Maggie has to roll them up to her ankles so they don’t drag on the ground, but the Stanford shirt fits her perfectly.

Alex attempts to hide her lingering gaze, and too late she realizes the bottle opener slipping from her grip.  It clatters to the floor, startling Maggie.  Alex winces, and quickly apologizes.  “Sorry,” she mutters.  “It slipped.”

She bends over to pick it up.  Maggie smiles at her and sits down on the couch.

“So, I guess I’ll leave you to it,” Alex says quickly.  She quickly fumbles to open a drawer in the kitchen and shove the bottle opener inside.

Maggie raises an eyebrow at her.  “It’s nine o’clock.  You going to bed already?”

“I, um—“

“Come on, sit.”  Maggie pats at the spot on the couch next to her.  “I already feel bad enough for intruding, I don’t want to banish you to your room!”

With a sigh, Alex makes her way over to the couch and plops down next to Maggie.  “I guess I can stay up a little bit longer.  We could watch a movie?  I mooch off my sister’s Netflix account.”

“Sounds perfect.”

They’re about an hour into _White Chicks_ and Maggie is crying with laughter, while Alex can’t seem to focus on the movie.  She’s too captivated by the sound of Maggie’s laugh, and the beers she’s had on top of that glass of bourbon aren’t helping much.

“I thought you said this was your favorite movie,” Maggie says.  “You’ve laughed like, once.”

Alex hadn’t really expected Maggie to notice so she’s at a loss for words.  “I guess I’m more tired than I thought,” she replies with a shrug.

“Sorry if I’m keeping you up,” Maggie frowns.

Alex doesn’t really acknowledge Maggie after this, and tries to pay attention to the movie, but she’s more just staring at the screen and not taking any of it in.  Maggie seems to notice Alex’s lack of concentration, when she scoots a little closer and nudges her in the side.

“What’s on your mind?” Maggie asks.

Alex can’t look at Maggie; she doesn’t want to risk it, and she doesn’t trust herself—not when Maggie is this close to her and she’s not sober.  Alex gulps and asks cautiously, “Why’d you come here?”  Maggie tilts her head curiously ( _adorably_ , Alex thinks).  “I mean, what about your girlfriend?  Won’t she be mad you chose to stay here over with her.”

Maggie’s quiet for a moment, and Alex isn’t sure what to expect, but then she laughs—straight up laughs, and Alex is confused.

“We’ve been dating for like two weeks,” Maggie explains when she notices the confused look on Alex’s face.  “It’s totally not serious.  It’s fun and she’s hot, but definitely not U-Haul material.”

At this confession, Alex feels herself relax, some of the tension leaving her shoulders.  “Oh,” she sighs.  “She won’t be jealous when she hears you’re staying here?”

Maggie shrugs.  “She probably will be, but it’s not really her decision.  The girl snores like a truck, no way am I staying with her more than one night at a time.”  Her eyes go wide for a second.  “You don’t snore, do you?” Maggie asks.

Alex finds herself chuckling.  “No, not that I’ve been told.  Then again, it’s been a while since anyone but my sister has stayed overnight,” she confesses.  “And Kara’s way too nice to break news like that.”

“If it turns out you snore, I’m out of here,” Maggie jokes.  “I’ll take my chances on the street.”

“Ha-ha,” Alex says with a smile.  She playfully shoves Maggie’s shoulder.  Maggie swats her hand away and leans in closer so their shoulders are brushing.  The playful grin on Maggie’s lips brings out her dimples and Alex feels her heart swell in her chest.  She can’t take her eyes off of Maggie’s for a moment, and her eyes flick down to Maggie’s lips—bad idea.  Alex’s breath catches and she lets out the softest gasp.  Maggie’s face is so close to her own, and her eyes are the most beautiful shade of brown, and, maybe she’s imagining things but it seems like Maggie is leaning in too.

Before Alex does something that they’ll both probably regret, she quickly jumps off the couch and grabs her beer.  “Actually,” she mumbles, “I’m super tired.  I think I’m just going to head to bed.”  She takes Maggie’s empty glass out of her hands and patters over the kitchen to toss it in the sink, then places her own empty bottle in the recycle bin.  “Feel free to stay up and watch whatever you want, though,” Alex offers with a smile.

“Of course,” Maggie says.  She leans back on the couch and kicks her feet up, making herself comfortable.  Alex tries not to let her eyes linger on where the shirt rides up and exposes her stomach.  She gulps and heads to her bedroom.  “Thanks again, Danvers.  ‘Night.”

Alex turns back in her doorway and sees Maggie looking at her with a sincere, thankful smile, and Alex can’t help but return it.  “Goodnight, Maggie.”

Alex closes the door behind her, and listens for a moment.  Maggie doesn’t stop the movie, but she turns down the volume so it’s muffled background noise coming from the living room.  Alex falls into her bed, not even tired, but simply overwhelmed with the night’s events.  Alex wonders, how does Maggie not realize what she does to her?

She almost kissed Maggie.  That would have been… awful, considering that Maggie is still dating someone else.  Alex buries her face in her pillow and groans.

She falls asleep, trying not to think about what Maggie’s lips taste like.

 

* * *

 

The smell of something cooking stirs Alex from her sleep.  Her eyes flutter open, and for a moment, she doesn’t remember the night before.  Maybe it’s Kara in her kitchen, but then Alex remembers that her sister can’t cook to save her life.  She fumbles for her phone on the nightstand to check the time—half past ten—and also finds a few text messages from Maggie.

 _That’s it,_ Alex thinks, _Maggie is here._

She unlocks her phone to check her texts, which consist of another _Thanks_ (as if she hadn’t already said that enough), _Going for a jog, be back soon_ , and _Breakfast is ready sleeping beauty_.

Alex can’t help but blush at the last one.  She’s about to text back, even though Maggie is in the other room, when her phone dies.  “Damn,” Alex curses under her breath.  She must have forgotten to plug it in to charge before she went to bed.

She rummages through her drawer to find the charger cable and quickly plugs in her phone and sets it on her bed.  The charging light comes on, but she knows it’ll be ages before her phone actually turns on again, so she drags herself out of bed and into the living room.

The sight of Maggie Sawyer in her kitchen, wearing her clothes, cooking something that smells delicious, is a sight that Alex could get used to.  Maggie is barefoot, her hair tied up in a messy bun with a few loose strands falling over her face.  She casually brushes them out of the way, and flips something white on the stove.  The Stanford t-shirt had specks of flower scattered on it, and a little smudge of flour over her face, too.  As Alex walks further into the room, she sees the mess of flour on the counter too.

“What the hell happened in here?” Alex asks.  Maggie spins around, an adorable smile on her face.  Alex raises an eyebrow at her.  And points to her cheek.  “You’ve got a little…”  Maggie raises a hand to wipe the flour dust off her cheek.

“I made breakfast!” Maggie exclaims.

“So you _didn’t_ murder the Pillsbury Doughboy in my house?” Alex says as she steps up closer to Maggie to see what exactly she’s doing in the kitchen.

Maggie chuckles softly, and turns back to the stove.  “No, unfortunately the Pillsbury Doughboy is still alive and kicking.”

Alex eyes the plate of tortillas next to the stove as Maggie sets another one down on top.  There’s a concoction with eggs, potatoes, and something else that looks delicious.  “What is all this?”

Maggie grins at her again, and proudly points out everything on the stove.  “We’ve got some chorizo and eggs right here,” she says, pointing at the delicious concoction Alex was eyeing.  “And some homemade tortillas, just like my abuela taught me to make.  The chorizo is really good if you but it all together in a burrito.”  Alex’s mouth falls open, mostly out of confusion, but Maggie frowns.  “I’m sorry, is this, like, totally overstepping?  I didn’t ask to use your kitchen, I just wanted to do something nice since you’re letting me stay here and I thought—“

“Maggie,” Alex cuts her off.  “It’s fine.  I just—how did you do all this?  Last I checked all I had in my pantry was an old bag of pretzels and some Tapatio.”

“I went shopping,” Maggie says, as if it’s the obvious answer.  “I usually go jogging in the morning, so I just stopped at the store on my way back.”  Maggie places the last finished tortilla on the plate and grabs two fresh plates from the cupboard.  She places a tortilla on one.  “Burrito?”

Alex is still at a loss for words, because Maggie Sawyer is full of surprises, and she loves it.  Alex shakes her head, baffled.  “Sure.”

Maggie finishes making a plate and hands it off to Alex, then fixes her own.  Alex sits down at the table and is about to dig into her food when a cup of hot coffee is placed in front of her.  Alex stares at it for a moment, and Maggie slides into the seat across from her, watching her in amusement.  “It’s not going to bite, you know.”

“You made coffee too?”  Maggie nods.  “Damn.”  She grabs the cup and takes a sip—black with just a little bit of sugar, just how she likes it.  “Mm, and you know how I take my coffee too.  I take it I didn’t snore last night?”

“Quiet as a mouse,” Maggie says, then takes a sip of her own coffee.

Alex picks up her burrito that Maggie made for her and takes a bite.  She doesn’t even try to hold back a moan when she gets a taste of the food.  “Holy shit,” Alex mutters.  “This is fucking delicious.”

“I know,” Maggie says with a smirk, and takes a bite of her own food.

Alex helps herself to seconds, and thirds, and fourths, until she’s finished off all the food in the pan and Maggie is looking at her with amusement.

“What?” Alex asks with a mouthful of food.

“Nothing,” Maggie says with a shrug.  “Just this recipe can usually feed a family, but you had no problem polishing it off yourself.”

Alex turns bright red and swallows.  She wipes her mouth and then answers, “Sorry.  My sister has kind of a huge appetite.  In my house it was either eat all you can or starve.”

“Damn,” Maggie muses.  “Remind me of that if I’m ever cooking for your sister.”

Maggie picks up her own plate and puts it in the sink.  She starts washing it, but Alex jumps out of her seat to stop her.  “Hey!” she scolds.  “You cooked, the least I can do is clean up.”

“It’s my mess, I’ve got it.”

“Maggie!”

“Danvers, I’ve got it!”

Maggie is nothing if not stubborn, Alex will give her that.  She can’t convince Maggie to let her wash the dishes, so she settles for helping her out by drying and putting them away.

Twenty minutes later, they’re finished with the dishes and Maggie has changed back into her clothes from the night before.  She laces up her shoes when Alex notices.  “You going somewhere?”

Maggie nods.  “Gotta talk to my landlord.  See if there’s any updates and maybe see if I can get some clothes because, between you and me, I already wore this shirt twice so I _definitely_ can’t wear it another day.”

Alex finds herself laughing, because Maggie is funny.  She’s honest and funny and can cook and is everything that she doesn’t expect.  “When are you getting back?”

“Probably not until after dinner,” Maggie says with a frown.  “Got a few errands to run.”  She hops off the couch and grabs her bag to head out the door.  “See you tonight, though?”

Alex is about to say _yeah, can’t wait_ , when she remembers that she’ll be at Kara’s apartment tonight.  “Crap,” she says.  “I’m actually going to be at Kara’s tonight.  It’s sister night.”

“Sister night?” Maggie questions.

“Shoot, I’m so sorry, Maggie.  I completely forgot.”

“Hey, it’s fine,” Maggie says.  “Your sister is important to you.”

Alex frowns, then goes to the top drawer in the kitchen.  She rummages through it for a moment before she finally extracts a key and holds it up triumphantly, then offers it to Maggie.  “Here,” she says.  “So you can get back in tonight.”

Maggie takes the key but looks at Alex suspiciously.  “This is a key to your apartment.”

Alex nods, amused.  “I’m aware.”

“Are you sure?” Maggie asks, concerned.

“I trust you, Maggie,” Alex says.  Maggie meets her eyes and smiles, and Alex feels the moment getting a little too sincere, so she adds.  “I can’t just leave you out on the streets, not when you can cook like that!  I mean, I’m expecting five course meals every day as payment.”  She winks, so Maggie knows she’s joking, and Maggie chuckles.

“You got it, Danvers,” Maggie replies with a mock salute.  “I’ll see you,” she adds, more sincerely before she heads out the door.

“See you,” Alex mutters wistfully, a little too long after the door has closed behind Maggie.

 

* * *

 

Alex has a mouthful of half-baked ice cream, and Kara’s feet are propped up, resting on her lap.  _10 Things I Hate About You_ plays on the television, but neither girl is paying much attention to it.

“So Maggie’s apartment _caught fire_?”

“Mhm,” Alex mumbles.  She swallows the large portion of ice cream in her mouth.  “She just shows up at my door asking if she can crash on my couch last night.  I mean what was I supposed to do?!  She looked so sad and so cute.”

“Alex, you are whipped,” Kara laughs.

Alex glares at her sister.  “Oh, please, I am not whipped.”  Kara gives her a pointed look and Alex sighs.  “Well, it’s only for a few days.”

Kara swipes the tub of half-baked from Alex’s hands and drops the cookie dough on her lap.  “Well, I hope you know what you’re doing.  Your massive crush on Maggie can be seen from space.  And I know, ‘cause I’ve been to space!”

“Coming from the girl who was at Jimmy Olsen’s beck and call a few months ago.”

“Don’t make me use my heat vision on the rest of that ice cream so you can’t enjoy it.”

Alex pouts, and Kara’s far too nice to use her powers for evil anyway.  When she’s sure Kara won’t harm the cold treat on her lap she takes a spoonful in her mouth, and then another.  And another.  With a confused frown, she looks into the container to see plain vanilla ice cream, overturned in a sloppy pile.  “Did you eat all the cookie dough out of this?”

Kara’s eyes go wide, and she looks down at her own ice cream.  “Maybe.”

“You’re a butt.”

“Don’t try to change the subject!” Kara protests.  “We’ve spent the last year talking about my romantic drama, it’s a nice change of pace to get to discuss yours instead!”

“I don’t have romantic drama.”

“Come on, Alex,” Kara groans.  “Are you ever going to ask Maggie out?  She is into you!”

Alex rolls her eyes.  “Need I remind you, _she has a girlfriend_!”

“I thought she wasn’t her girlfriend.”

“Dating, girlfriend, same thing.”

Kara frowns.  “Hey, dating is casual, girlfriend is serious!  So if they’re just dating you can still swoop in.”

“And she’s staying with me now, wouldn’t it make things weird if I asked her out and she doesn’t feel the same?”  Alex huffs and sets her useless ice cream on the table.  She clutches a couch pillow to her chest and buries her face in it.  Alex may not like talking about her feelings, but her sister is the only one who gets to see her vulnerabilities.  Sometimes it’s nice to have an open ear to talk to, and Kara is the most caring person she’ll ever know.  If she can’t talk to Kara, she can’t talk to anyone.

“Yeah, I can’t help you there,” Kara says with a frown.  She returns the half-baked ice cream to Alex’s hands and takes the cookie dough (minus the cookie dough) ice cream.  Alex looks into the tub and sees that there’s still some cookie dough and brownie bits inside.  She must be awfully pitiful right now, if Kara is willingly giving her the good bits of the ice cream.  She smiles in thanks.  “Sorry sis.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Alex mutters with a mouthful of brownie bits.  “Let’s talk about something else for a bit.”

“Yeah, ok.”  Kara returns her attention to the television to watch the movie.  After a moment, she pipes up and asks, “Heath Ledger or Joseph Gordon Levitt?”

Alex raises an eyebrow at her.  “Julia Stiles.”

“Ok, I should’ve seen that one coming,” Kara laughs.  “Are you staying the night?  Want me to make up the couch?”

Alex shakes her head.  “I should probably get home tonight since Maggie’s there.”

“Can’t wait to see her again, huh?”

“Shut up.”

Kara makes kissing noises and puckers her lips obnoxiously at Alex.  Alex swats her with a pillow.

“Shut _up_.”

 

* * *

 

It’s well past midnight when Alex finally leaves Kara’s place and heads home.  She unlocks her door as quietly as she can, expecting Maggie to already be fast asleep on the couch.  She’s surprised to find Maggie on the couch, awake, tear streaked cheeks, and an empty six pack of beer on the coffee table.

“Maggie?” Alex says.  She tosses her keys on the counter and sits down on the couch next to Maggie.

“Shit, sorry,” Maggie mutters.  “I didn’t know when you were coming home, I’ll clean up.”  She reaches out to grab an empty bottle of beer on the coffee table, but accidentally knocks into it and the bottle topples over and clatters to the floor.  “Fuck.  Sorry, I’ll just—“

“Hey, Maggie,” Alex interrupts.  She grabs Maggie’s arm to stop her from trying to clean.  “What’s wrong?”

Maggie purses her lips and sighs.  “I talked to my landlord today,” she starts.  She leans forward and buries her forehead in her hands.  “The fire started right above my apartment, so it spread a little, and some debris fell.  Basically, there’s no saving my place.”

“Shit,” Alex breathes.  “Maggie, I’m so sorry.”

Maggie shrugs dejectedly.  “They were able to save a box of my shit, but that’s it.  I got my deposit back, plus reimbursement for this month’s rent.  My apartment, most of my stuff, it’s just…gone.  I have nothing.”

Maggie rubs her temple.  She’s done crying, Alex can tell.  Maggie’s not the type of person to cry in front of others, and Alex understands because she’s the same way.  “That’s not true,” Alex says quietly.  Maggie lifts her head to send Alex a questioning look.  “You have me.”  Alex offers a small smile, and after a moment, Maggie returns it.  “You can stay here as long as you need, and I can help you find a new place.” 

Instead of saying anything, Maggie pulls Alex into an embrace.  Alex stiffens at first, because she’s not used to showing physical affection with anyone except for her sister, but it’s _Maggie_.  She relaxes and wraps her arms around the smaller woman.  Alex feels a few wet drops on her neck as she holds Maggie, but when they pull apart and Maggie smiles at her, her eyes are dry.  Maybe she just imagined it, but if not, Alex is happy that Maggie is comfortable around her.

She’s sure Maggie still looks beautiful when she cries.


	2. Blow Me Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Living with Maggie is not helping with Alex's massive crush, so Kara helps her try to get over it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mild sexual content warning at the very end- if that's not your cup of tea, feel free to stop reading once Alex gets home.

Maggie has been staying with Alex for a week, and from Alex’s perspective, it’s been a week of hell.

It’s been a week of accidentally walking into the living room while Maggie is wearing nothing but her underwear and an oversize t-shirt, or coming home to her with only a towel wrapped around her body, hair still damp from the shower she just took.

Not to mention, Maggie is a damn good cook.  Every morning it’s something different for breakfast and it’s always just as delicious as the day before.  They’re usually too busy throughout the day and get their own lunch and dinner, but now Alex always feels her heart swell in excitement at the thought of breakfast with Maggie.

They’ve come to have some sort of routine between the two of them.  Maggie will wake up early to go for a jog and make breakfast, then they both head to work (although, usually their paths will cross throughout the work day), and then they both usually get back to Alex’s apartment pretty late, when they’ll have a couple beers together and watch something funny on Netflix.

It’s Thursday, and Alex gets home well after eight o’ clock to an empty apartment.  This normally wouldn’t be any cause for alarm, but for the past week, Maggie had been arriving home well before Alex.

Alex shrugs it off and pours herself a glass of wine.  She props her feet up on the couch and turns on the TV.  It is actually nice to have the apartment to herself again, even for a little while. 

Alex gets through three episodes of Scandal before she starts to worry.  Maggie hasn’t even texted her since lunchtime.  Alex gets out of the Netflix app on her TV before the next episode automatically plays and whips out her phone to call Maggie.

The line rings five times, and Alex is about to give up, when it clicks on.

“Hello?”

It’s a woman’s voice, but that doesn’t sound like Maggie.  Alex frowns.

“I’m looking for Maggie, who the hell are you?”

Alex hears some rustling from the other end of the call, and a muted “Give me that!” that sounds distinctly more like Maggie, and then.  “This is Sawyer.”

Maggie is out of breath and her voice is a little rough.  Alex wonders if she’s out hunting an alien without her.  “Maggie?  Where are you?”

“Oh, shit,” Maggie mutters.  “Sorry, Danvers, I, uhh, had a date.”

Alex throat goes dry and she turns pale as a ghost.  “Oh,” she gasps. _Oh_.  That’s why she was out of breath.  Alex hears someone giggle through the phone and she swallows thickly.

“Sorry if I freaked you out,” Maggie says.  “Forgot to mention it.”

Alex takes a deep breath.  “Not like I was about to file an APB or anything.”  She forces a laugh to ease some of the tension.  “Will you be back later?”

Maggie chuckles nervously, “Uhh, maybe not _tonight_ …”

Alex wants to hang up without another word, but decides against it.  She feels sick, anxious, like she might throw up but not quite, and, god, it’s the worst feeling ever.  “Okay,” she chokes out.

“Later, Danvers,” Maggie says, and hangs up with a click before Alex gets the chance to say goodbye.

Alex has known that Maggie dates a lot, but it still makes her feel that same surge of anger and disappointment that she felt the first time she found out.  She tosses her phone, a little too roughly onto the coffee table, then decides to forgo her wine for something a little bit stronger.

Alex wonders if she just imagined all the flirting Maggie has done with her, the challenging looks, the holding hands, everything.  Maybe she’s just reading too much into it.  Maybe it’s her own damn fault for falling for someone who clearly doesn’t like being tied down.

After a shot of whiskey, Alex finds herself calling Kara.

Kara answers on the first ring, like she always does.  “What’s up?”

Alex frowns.  “Are you busy?” she asks.  “Can you come over?”

“Yeah, are you okay?” Kara asks, voice laced with concern.  “What’s wrong?”

Alex shrugs, even though Kara can’t see her.  “I just don’t want to be alone right now.”

“What about your new roommate, Maggie?” Kara asks teasingly.

Alex clears her throat awkwardly.  “She has a date tonight.”

Kara doesn’t even hesitate to answer with a quick, “I’ll be there in ten,” and hangs up.

Normally, Alex would question why it would take ten whole minutes for her sister with super speed and the ability to fly to get to her apartment that’s three blocks away, but she’s too exhausted.  And it ends up being a pleasant surprise when Kara comes bearing gifts of food- a brown paper bag that smells suspiciously like her favorite food truck.

“Chicago?” she asks.

“Chicago,” Kara confirms with a nod and holds out the bag.

“I love you.”

An hour later finds Alex with a stomach, full to content, climbing on top of Kara trying to retrieve her phone from her sister’s grasp.

“Kara, don’t you dare!”

“Come on, it’ll be fun!”

“Give it back!”

“I promise it’ll be fun!”

“Don’t make me steal J’onn’s Kryptonite knife and use it on you!”

“You’re a party pooper.”  Instead of returning Alex’s phone, Kara jumps off the couch and hovers in the air, just out of Alex’s reach.  “Alex, you’re single and lonely and pining.  Just give it a shot!”

“No,” Alex says flatly.  “You are not signing me up for… _Tinder_.”  She shudders as she says the last word in disgust.

“Come on, please!” Kara begs.  “The worst that can happen is you’ll talk to some weirdos and maybe it’ll make Maggie a little jealous.  The best that could happen is that you’ll meet someone nice, have a little fun, and make Maggie _really_ jealous.”

“Why do you assume that my goal would be to make Maggie jealous?”  Kara raises an eyebrow at her, and Alex sighs.  “Okay, fine.  But it’s not like I can just stop having feelings for her.”

Kara frowns.  “I know, but this will get your mind off her for a little while.”

Kara holds Alex’s gaze and gives her best puppy dog pout.  Alex really can’t stand that pout.  After a moment she lets out a long, drawn out sigh.  “Ugh, fine.”  Kara squeals in excitement and flops back down on the couch next to Alex.

“It’s super quick, I promise.”  Kara fiddles with Alex’s phone for a minute, then hands it back to her.  “There ya go!” she proclaims with a satisfied grin.  “You can fix your settings, change your pictures, write a description.”

Alex hesitantly grabs her phone and eyes it suspiciously.  She scrolls through the settings.   _Women only, definitely_ , she thinks and checks the box next to that.  She changes a few of the settings and then goes to her description.  “What do I put here?”

“Just a little something about you!” Kara says.  “Mine says, I like the three F’s: Food, Friends, and Family.”

“That’s lame,” Alex mutters and begins typing something out.

“What are you putting?” Kara asks and tries to grab the phone from her hands.  Alex pushes her out of the way.  Kara glares at her and uses her super speed to snatch it.  “I like shooting aliens,” she reads aloud.  “Oh, come on Alex, you need something better than that!  And some people could take offense to the shooting aliens thing.”

Alex glares at her sister.  “Well what did you have in mind?”

Kara scrunches up her face in concentration and types away at Alex’s phone.  “There!” she exclaims proudly, and offers the phone back to Alex.

Alex reads the description Kara wrote.  “I like guns, girls, and motorcycles.  And my sister.”

“Eh?” Kara prods her in the side with a finger and grins brightly.

Alex rolls her eyes at her sister’s antics and chuckles softly.  “It’s alright, I guess,” she huffs.  “Take off the smiley face at the end, though.  I don’t use smiley faces.”

“ _Fine_ ,” Kara sighs.

After they finalize Alex’s pictures, Kara snuggles into Alex’s side on the couch and props her feet up on her lap as they scroll through Tinder together.  Alex barely glances at any of the pictures before swiping left on most of the profiles she passes by, and Kara gets increasingly frustrated.

“Alex!” she groans when her sister swipes left before the picture has even finished loading.  “You can’t just swipe left on everybody!  Why don’t you read a little about them?  Look at more pictures?”

Alex just shrugs.  “None of these girls are really my type.”

“Well right now your type is Maggie Sawyer so get her out of your head and read this description!”

Alex glares at Kara, but reluctantly reads about the girl on the screen- a cute, short brunette with a chihuahua in her picture.  “I guess she’s kind of cute,” Alex mutters.  “Well, the dog is cute.”  She scrolls down a little.  “Ew, she’s an accountant, never mind.”  Before Kara can protest, Alex swipes left once again.

The next profile is a redheaded girl with glasses and freckles.  “She’s cute!” Kara says.  “Amanda?  And she’s like a mile away!”

“I stand by that location thing being really creepy,” Alex quickly says.  “But yeah, I guess she’s kind of cute.”

“Ooh, and she’s getting her PhD!” Kara exclaims.  “You like smart girls!  You have a PhD!  You’d have a lot to talk about.”

“I guess,” Alex sighs.

“Come ooooon,” Kara whines.  “Swipe right!”

Alex makes sure to send Kara a very dirty glare, but reluctantly, she swipes right.  Much to her surprise, her phone dings and the words “It’s a match!” pop up on her screen.

Kara literally squeaks in excitement.  “Oh my gosh, Alex!  You got a match!”

“Okay?  What does that mean?”  Alex eyes her phone suspiciously.  This is why she doesn’t use social media, and this is why she doesn’t like letting Kara take control of her dating life.

“It means she liked you too!” Kara explains.  “And the app starts a chat between you guys so you can talk to her!  You should say something!”

Alex shakes her head vehemently.  “Uh-uh,” she says.  “No way, I am not doing that.  You already signed me up for this stupid thing, that’s as far as I’m going to go.”  Alex’s phone dings again and she glares at it.  Kara, on the other hand, brightens in excitement.  “What was that?”

“She sent you a message!” Kara squeals.  “What’d she say?”

“How do I—“

“Give me that!”  Kara swipes the phone from her hands, _again_ , and opens the message.  “What kind of bike do you have?”

“Damn it, Kara,” Alex groans and grabs her phone.  She types out a quick response, answering the girl’s question.  _Ducati_.

She doesn’t expect Amanda’s prompt reply of, _That’s hot_.

Alex turns twelve shades of red when she reads the message.

“What?” Kara asks, leaning into Alex to get a better look at her phone, but Alex holds it out of Kara’s reach.  “What did she say?”

“Nothing,” Alex groans and shoves Kara off her.  “Go away.”

The girl’s second reply comes quickly, before Alex can even say anything.  _Maybe you could take me for a ride sometime ;)_

Damn, this girl is forward.

“Can we at least go back to swiping?” Kara pouts.  “It’s more fun for me.”

“We didn’t do this for _you_ ,” Alex mutters, but leaves the conversation to go back to looking at pictures.  Kara grins and settles in by Alex’s side once again, and Alex continues swiping, mostly left, but she swipes right occasionally, and gets two more matches.

It’s well past midnight when Kara falls asleep on Alex’s lap.  Alex lets her snore for a few minutes, but then wakes her up and puts their cups in the sink.  “Wake up, sleepyhead.”  Kara sits up, a little dazed and confused.  “You wanna stay here tonight?”

Kara blinks and shakes her head.  “Nah, I should head home.  Work tomorrow.”  Kara stands up and stretches her arms over her head and yawns loudly.  “See you, sis.”  She patters over to the kitchen to give Alex a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks for hanging out, Kara,” Alex says.  “I really needed this.”

Kara grins and squeezes her hand.  “Anytime.  Have fun on Tinder!”  Alex glares at her.  “Love you!” she calls over her shoulder and heads for the window.

“Love you too,” Alex says with a frown.  “Fly safe.”

Kara gives her a mock salute, then takes off out the window.  Alex watches her sister disappear into the night for a moment, then goes back to cleaning up.

She’s startled when the front doorknob jiggles as someone tries to open it.  Alex is about to lunge for her gun when the door flies open to reveal Maggie, messy hair, and the top few buttons of her shirt still unbuttoned.  Alex feels a twinge of jealousy.

“Hey, you’re still up,” Maggie says.

“Just heading to bed, actually,” Alex says, curtly.  “I didn’t think you were coming back tonight.”

Maggie shrugs and takes off her leather jacket.  “Didn’t feel like staying.”  She offers nothing more, and Alex thinks maybe that’s a good thing, the less she knows the better.  There’s a tense, silent moment between the two of them as neither one says anything.

“Well,” Alex says, clearing her throat.  “You know where everything is.  ‘Night, Maggie.”

Alex heads off to her room.  “Goodnight,” Maggie says through a yawn.

 

* * *

 

Alex spends more time than she’d like to admit on Tinder.  Kara was right, it’s a good way to get her mind off of Maggie because some of these girls are very forward and flirty, and it makes Alex feel special.  And she deserves to feel special.  So Alex chats, and she flirts, and when a girl named Priya invites her to meet for a drink, Alex finds herself saying yes.

She doesn’t tell Kara, because she knows Kara will make a _huge_ deal about it and Alex doesn’t want it to be a big deal, she just wants to have fun.  She does, however, spend twenty minutes looking in the mirror while deciding between two different leather jackets to wear.

Alex lets Priya suggest a place to meet, and they end up at a sports bar in downtown that Alex has never been to before.  It’s loud and fun and exactly the casual environment Alex had been looking for.

She recognizes Priya immediately, and her pictures definitely don’t do her justice.  Her dark hair falls in loose curls around her face, and she’s dressed casually, but she works those skinny jeans so well that Alex finds herself staring at Priya’s ass for a second too long.  Thankfully, Priya hasn’t noticed her yet, standing at the bar, watching the football game on the screen behind the bar.

Alex takes a deep breath and steps up next to her.  “Hey,” she says simply.

Priya turns and finds Alex and she smiles.  “Alex, hey!”  She’s almost a full head taller and looks like a goddamn supermodel.  Alex is definitely intimidated, and Maggie Sawyer is the furthest thing from her mind.  “It’s good to see you.”

Alex rubs her arm nervously.  “Yeah, you too.”

“Come on, let’s sit!” Priya says.  She snags a couple of barstools.  “What beer do you drink?”

“I like Stella.”

Priya smirks at her and Alex’s heart races a little, because she’s not quite sure if she’s ever been on a date with someone this physically attractive.  Why she was interested in Alex, well, Alex had no clue.  “Two Stellas, please,” she says to the bartender.

Alex feels a lot more comfortable once there’s a drink in her hand.  She holds onto her glass like an anchor, the cold beer like ice on her sweaty palms.  “So, you’re a doctor, right?” Alex asks, then mentally cringes.  What a great conversation starter, not awkward at all.

Priya doesn’t seem to mind and smiles sweetly.  “Yeah,” she replies.  “I’m at National Medical Center right now, but I’d love to start my own practice one day.”

“That’s really cool,” Alex says, genuinely intrigued.  “I actually went to med school for a hot second,” she adds with a soft chuckle.  “Turns out I’m more of a lab rat, but I have mad respect for anyone who stuck through it.”

Priya smiles, picking up on Alex’s subtle compliment.  “Yeah?  What about you Miss Mysterious, with your mystery job?”

Alex smiles behind her glass as she takes another drink.  “I do some science consulting for the FBI,” she explains vaguely.  “So it gets me out of the lab sometimes, which is fun.”

“That’s very interesting.”  Priya’s flirtatious grin makes Alex blush.

Just then, her phone buzzes in her pocket with a text message.  Alex wants to ignore it, but it could be work.  More importantly, it could be Kara.  “Sorry, one second,” she mutters, and pulls out her phone.

Even worse, it’s Maggie.  _Where are you_ , Maggie asks.  Alex rolls her eyes.  She hadn’t told Maggie about her date for a reason, that reason being she doesn’t want to be thinking about Maggie all night.  And now Maggie is texting her, and Alex is thinking about Maggie again.

She frowns and puts her phone back in her pocket.  “Sorry, I thought it was work,” Alex says, and returns her full attention to Priya.  “It’s not as important.”

“Not as important as what?” Priya asks with a challenging smirk.  She leans in a little and offers Alex a playful glare.

Alex bites her lip and meets Priya’s eyes.  “Not as important as this,” Alex answers, feeling brazen.

Priya closes the distance between them and kisses her.

It’s soft and brief, and Alex barely gets the chance to react, but when Priya pulls away, Alex smiles, giddy and nervous and excited.  It’s been a while since she’s kissed _anyone_.

“So,” Priya says, carrying on like nothing happened, but Alex can see the blush that tinges her cheeks, “tell me about your sister.”

Alex and Priya chat for a while, and they go through a couple more beers along the way.  Priya sits with her elbow resting on the bar, and her head propped up, gazing at Alex intently as she speaks, and Alex loves the attention.  She’s always second best, so it’s nice to be put first for once.  And she loves listening to Priya speak, too.  Alex learns that Priya has three sisters, and three dogs, she loves onions but hates pickles, and that she’s allergic to cashews.

Conversation flows easily between the two of them, and it’s not nearly as awkward as Alex thought it would be.  Priya is nice, and gorgeous, and really, genuinely interested in her.  The next time they kiss, Alex is the one to lean in and press their lips together.  Alex is pleasantly buzzed and this gorgeous girl likes her and is kissing her and Maggie Sawyer is the furthest thing from her mind as Priya’s tongue delves into her mouth.

That is, until her phone rings, and they jump apart.  Alex blushes, while Priya is a little breathless and flustered.  “Sorry,” she mutters again.  “One sec.”  She fumbles with her phone because Priya’s fingers are drawing distracting patterns on her thigh and answers the call.  “Danvers.”

“Hey, where are you?”

Priya’s hand slips a little further up her thigh, and Alex’s breath catches.  “W-who is this?”

“It’s me, Maggie.”  Alex freezes.  _Maggie_.  Of course.  “I called Kara and she said you’re not with her.”

“Maggie, I’m on a _date_ ,” Alex sighs in frustration.  A date that she would very much like to get back to.

“Oh.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” Maggie says.  “I just didn’t know you were dating anyone.”  Alex wants to say that Maggie sounds a little jealous, but maybe she’s just projecting.

“Well I am,” she replies quickly.

“Oh, ok.”  There’s an awkward, tense, silence between them.  “I guess I’ll let you go, then.  Sorry for interrupting.”

“Later, Sawyer,” Alex mutters, and hangs up before she Maggie can say anything else.

“Who was that?” Priya asks.  She leans in closer so that Alex can feel her breath on her cheek.

“Uhh, no one,” Alex says.  “Just my roommate, wondering where I am.”

“Roommate, huh?” Priya’s tongue traces against Alex’s earlobe, and she shudders when her teeth bite down.  “I guess we’ll have to go back to my place then.”

Alex’s heart skips a beat.  “I guess so.”

They take an uber back to Priya’s apartment.  Alex has never gone home with someone on the first date before, but now that she’s dating girls, things are different, _better_ , and she finds herself excited when Priya straddles her on the couch and kisses her hard.

Alex’s mind is going a million miles an hour, and she runs her fingers through Priya’s hair and tugs her closer.  She gasps when Priya grinds down into her, and god it feels _good_.  Alex is lost in the moment until a certain dimpled smile flashes through her head.

Alex pulls back from the kiss, taking a moment to breathe.  _No, no, no_ , Alex thinks.  _Get out of my head_.  She’s supposed to be getting _over_ Maggie by getting _under_ someone else.  She kisses Priya again, but now that Maggie’s in her head, she can’t get her out.

Nothing feels right anymore.  The kisses feel empty, her touch feels cold, and Alex feels more alone than before.

Alex likes Priya, she _wants_ to like her, but damn it, Maggie’s hold on her heart is like a vice and there’s no getting rid of it.

She pulls away from the kiss again, more abruptly this time, and wriggles out from underneath her.  “I—you’re—um,” Alex stutters nervously.  “I have to go.  I’m sorry.”  Priya looks hurt and confused, and Alex feels like such an asshole for doing this to such a nice person.  “I’m so sorry, Priya.  I really like you, this just…isn’t fair to you.”

Priya frowns.  “Someone else, huh?”

Alex sighs.  Is it that obvious?  Reluctantly, she nods.

“Well, I can’t say I’m not disappointed.”

“I’m sorry,” Alex apologizes, again.

Priya sighs.  “It’s fine, just go.”

Alex knows that she’s an asshole, but she’s also right.  It’s not fair to kiss someone when she can’t stop thinking about someone else.

So she leaves.

When Alex gets outside, she takes a much-needed breath of fresh air and checks her phone.  There are about twenty new text messages from Kara, all of them are along the lines of ‘Where are you?’ and ‘WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME YOU HAVE A DATE????’  Alex sighs and types out a quick reply.

_I’ll fill you in tomorrow.  Tired now_

She pockets her phone again, and decides that it’s a nice night for a walk.

Alex regrets this decision half an hour later when she’s barely reached her apartment, exhausted, parched, and most of all, exhausted.  She usually takes the stairs because she’s only on the second floor, but not tonight.  Alex waits for the elevator and slowly makes her way upstairs to her apartment.  She easily fits the key into the lock and swings the door open to find Maggie wearing nothing but a towel.

Now, Maggie in a towel is a sight that Alex has seen many times since she’s started living on her couch.  Unfortunately, tonight Alex is still a little on edge and unsatisfied from her date with Priya.  Alex’s jaw literally drops.  She can’t tear her eyes away from the swell of Maggie’s breasts that disappear underneath the towel, or the toned legs that Alex wants wrapped around her waist, or the drop of water that slides down Maggie’s bicep.

“Hey,” Maggie says with a soft smile.  “I didn’t think you were coming home tonight.  How was your date?” she asks.

“F-fine,” Alex chokes out.  She also doesn’t miss the way that Maggie called her apartment _home_.

“You okay?” Maggie asks, concerned.  She steps closer and reaches out a hand, but Alex immediately jumps out of the way and walks across the room.  She _definitely_ cannot deal with being in such close proximity to Maggie—not right now, at least.

“Mhm,” Alex mumbles, vigorously nodding her head.  “Just tired is all.  I-um, bed.  I’m going to bed.”  Alex blushes as she fumbles over every single word that tries to fall from her mouth.  “See you tomorrow,” she says quickly, and risks one last glance down Maggie’s body before slipping through her bedroom door and slamming it shut behind her.  “Shit,” Alex breathes out.

Alex is way too turned on right now, it’s uncomfortable.  Her breathing is heavy, and there’s a dull throb between her legs that needs to be taken care of.

Alex tries to ignore it, she tries to go to sleep and forget about what Maggie looked like in that towel.  She tries to stop wondering what Maggie looks like _under_ the towel.  She can’t.  Alex tosses and turns in bed for god knows how long, but the heat she feels does not go away.

Alex bites down on her bottom lip anxiously.  It’s been ages since she touched herself… But she couldn’t—not with Maggie right outside her door.  Then again, Maggie has been quiet for a while, and Alex knows she won’t get any sleep tonight if she didn’t at least try to fix this frustration…

Alex's hand disappears under the blankets that cover her.  She lets one hand slip under her shirt, and she softly traces the underside of her breast.  Her thoughts wander to Maggie, and how soft her hand felt intertwined with her own.   She grazes against the sensitive skin, and Alex gasps and opens her eyes.  "Fuck," she mutters under her breath, and runs her fingers through her hair. "Am I really doing this?"

Alex had never thought about someone else while she touched herself before, mostly because there was never really anyone she wanted to think about. But she wishes it was Maggie's lips on hers instead of the cold air, that it was Maggie tugging up her shirt, that it was Maggie's hand dipping into her shorts.

Alex is embarrassed and blushing, but too turned on to care right now.

She’s wet, really wet, and she curses because she doesn't remember being this wet while touching herself before. It's almost too easy when Alex slides a finger inside, and she breathes out a soft, "Oh."

Alex's breath is a little shaky, but she relaxes, and squeezes her eyes shut tight.  She sees Maggie's face behind her eyelids, hears Maggie's voice in her ears.  She can almost feel Maggie inside of her.

"Oh," Alex gasps again, trying so hard to be quiet, muffling herself with a pillow. "Oh, Mags..."

Alex realizes what she said and bites down on her lip to silence herself, but she can't stop thinking about Maggie.

Alex’s movements grow more frantic as the pressure builds her up faster than ever before, and if she concentrates hard enough, she can pretend that Maggie is doing this to her, and that her dimpled smile will kiss her and send her over the edge.

Alex comes with a stifled cry, and the ghost of Maggie's name on her lips.


	3. Hold Onto Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie finds a new place to live, and Alex needs either to face her feelings or move on.

Saturday is the first morning since Maggie has been here that Alex doesn’t wake up to the smell of breakfast.  Instead, when she leaves her bedroom, she finds Maggie, dressed and ready to leave, her meager box of belongings packed up, and a small bag of clothes.  The key she gave to Maggie is on the coffee table.  Alex wonders for a moment, if maybe Maggie realized what she was thinking last night when she walked in on Maggie after her shower.

Alex blushes when she remembers what she did after, and _hopes, prays_ that Maggie has no idea.  She clears her throat nervously.

“Maggie?” Alex asks curiously.  “Are you going somewhere?”

Maggie looks up from lacing up her boots.  “I, uh, was hoping to leave before you woke up,” she mutters.  “I found an apartment.”

“What?” Alex gasps.  “Why didn’t you tell me?  You know you can stay here as long as you need.”  And part of Alex doesn’t want Maggie to leave, but she’s not going to tell her that.

Maggie shrugs as she finishes lacing up her shoes.  “I figured you’d want me out of your hair,” Maggie says.  “Especially if you’re seeing someone,” she adds on casually.

“It was one date,” Alex says, a little defensively.  “Come on, don’t you want to look a little more and make sure you found the right place?  What was this, the first opening you found?”

“Maybe,” Maggie frowns.  “But it’s too late, I’m going over to check out the place and sign the lease right now.”  Maggie finishes tying her shoe and stands upright.  She grabs her box.  “I’ve definitely overstayed my welcome here, but I do really appreciate it your help.  Thanks, Danvers.”

Alex’s forehead is creased with her frown, and Maggie’s about to leave, but Alex won’t let her.  “Where is this place?” she asks quickly.

“Downtown,” Maggie says.  “Off of First and Sanders.”

“First and Sanders?” Alex scoffs.  “That is, like, the _worst_ area of downtown!”

“I’m sure it’s fine, I just need a place to live.”

“Let me go with you,” Alex says, surprising both herself and Maggie.

“What?” Maggie asks, with a raised eyebrow.

“You know, to make sure that it’s safe,” Alex says quickly.  “If it’s not, you have to stay here and let me _help you_ find something better.”

“You worried about me, Danvers?” Maggie asks with a laugh.  Alex’s frown doesn’t falter and she continues to stare her down.  Eventually, Maggie sighs.  “You’re not gonna take no for an answer, are you?”

“Not a chance,” Alex smirks with a shake of her head.

Maggie rolls her eyes, clearly amused.  “Fine,” she says.  “How fast can you get ready to go?  I’m meeting the landlord at ten.”

“Give me five minutes,” Alex says, and leaps into her bedroom to change.

Alex knows that she’s biased in wanting Maggie to stay with her a little longer, but when they get to the place, it’s honestly a dump.  There’s only one window in the entire apartment, and it’s facing a busy freeway.  There’s weird stains on the carpet, and Alex would hate to see this place under a blacklight.  As they open the door and step inside the bathroom, a rat scampers across her foot.

“This place is quite a deal,” the landlord says.  “It’s right in the heart of downtown and close to all the hot spots!  Only ten minutes from the beach, too!  Once you move in, you can spruce it up however you please.”

“Yeah, can we just burn it down?” Alex mutters under her breath.  “Cause that would be an improvement.”

Maggie elbows her sharply in the side, but when Alex looks over, it’s clear that she’s trying to hide an amused grin.  “Actually, I think I’ve changed my mind,” Maggie says politely.  “It’s a little… smaller than I pictured.”

“Are you sure—“

“Yeah, no, we’ll just be leaving,” Maggie says quickly.  She grabs Alex’s hand and the two of them high tail it out of there.

They make it to Alex’s car, out of breath, and laughing.

“Wow, okay,” Maggie muses.  “You were right.  That place was a bust.”

“I hate to say I told you so, but…” Alex makes an amused face, and laughs again.  “Actually, no, I love to say it.  I told you so.”

“I know, I know,” Maggie says.  “I’m sorry.  I just… things have been kind of weird between us.  I thought you wanted me gone.”

“What?” Alex guffaws.  “No, of course not!  I love having you!  With me.  At my house, I mean.  Staying with me.  I haven’t been weird, at least, not on purpose.  I’m sorry if you didn’t feel welcome.”

Maggie tilts her head and smirks.  “Okay.  I promise I’ll look for a better place and get your seal of approval before I make any decisions.”

Alex is about to thank her when her stomach growls, loud.  Maggie chuckles.  “Hey, you’re the one who didn’t make me breakfast this morning,” Alex accuses.

“Don’t tell me you’re getting used to it,” Maggie laughs.  “Whatever will you do when I’m gone?”

Alex leans against her car and sighs.  “Who knows,” she wonders.  Alex can’t help it when her smile falters a little at the thought of Maggie leaving.  She knows they’re friends, and they’ll still see each other outside of work, but she’s got it bad and being near Maggie in any way makes her happy.

Maggie notices Alex’s face fall and nudges her.  “How about brunch?” she asks.  “On me.  As a thanks, and to make up for not cooking breakfast this morning.”

Alex quirks an eyebrow.  “That offer is… very tempting.”

“I know a place with bottomless mimosas,” Maggie adds with a smirk.

“Let’s go, Sawyer.”  Alex hops in the driver’s seat of her car, and Maggie quickly follows.

They’re a few mimosas in, and Alex is giggly.  She’s usually more of a beer and bourbon girl, but mimosas in the morning is always fun.

“So when did you start dating?” Maggie asks, almost out of the blue.

Alex chokes on her drink.  “W-what?”

Maggie might be blushing, but Alex can’t be too sure.  “Well, you just never mentioned you were dating anyone before.”

Alex laughs awkwardly.  “It’s kind of a funny story, actually,” she says.  “I was a little drunk and Kara thought it would be fun to set me up on Tinder.”  She deliberately leaves out the fact that the only reason Kara set her up on Tinder was because her hopeless crush on Maggie was going nowhere.

“You?  On _Tinder_?” Maggie gasps.  “Oh, god, that must have been torture for you.”

“Eh, it didn’t turn out to be so bad,” Alex admits with a shrug.  “Some of the girls I talked to were pretty nice.”

“Were?”

“It was fun for a little while, but I don’t think Tinder is my thing,” Alex says.  She goes to take another sip of her mimosa, only to find her glass empty.  She frowns and sets it on the edge of the table so their server can see she needs a refill.

Maggie purses her lips and takes a sip of her own drink.  “What about your date last night?” she asks hesitantly.  “How’d that go?”

“It was good,” Alex offers.  “Fun.  But I don’t think it’s going to be more than that.”

“Why?”

_Because I couldn’t stop thinking about you._

Alex shrugs.  “We just… didn’t click, I guess.”  Maggie nods, vaguely interested.  “What about you, and your not-girlfriend?” Alex adds.

“I haven’t texted her in a while,” Maggie says.  “I think that might have fizzled out.”

Alex bites her lip to hide a hopeful smile.  “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not,” Maggie says.  “We were never anything official.  It was fun.”

Alex tries to be coy, but Maggie is single and available again, and the thought excites her.  “So, what now?” she asks.

Maggie licks her lips and smirks.  “I guess I’ll see what happens.”  Her heavy gaze makes Alex blush, and Alex is grateful when the server arrives with another mimosa for her.

 

* * *

 

Saturday night is sister night again, and Alex comes prepared with four pints of ice cream in a grocery bag and enough pizza to feed an army—that army being Kara.

She knocks on the door and when it opens, Kara is glaring at her.  Alex is a little scared that lasers might accidentally shoot out of her eyes with the look Kara is giving her.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a date?!” Kara asks.

Alex rolls her eyes and steps inside.  “Really?  I don’t even get to sit down before the interrogation starts?”

“Well, yeah!”  Kara grabs the boxes of pizza from Alex’s hands and brings them over to the living room where she sets them down on the coffee table and falls onto the couch.  “Not when you keep something this big from me!”

“I didn’t want to make it a big deal,” Alex sighs. “And I knew you would make it a big deal.”

“What?” Kara scoffs.  “I would _never_.”

Alex raises an eyebrow at her.  “Remember when my friend Tony was going to ask me to prom, _as friends_ , and you decided to help him plan this over the top grand gesture that made everyone at school think we were dating for the rest of the year?”

“That was one time—“

“Or when I came out to you and you proceeded to give my phone number to every single lesbian you knew.”

“That was only like two girls!”

“Or the time you—“

“Okay, I get it!” Kara interrupts.  “I’m sorry if I get excited, I just want you to be happy!”

Alex sighs.  “I know you do.”  She sits down on the couch and hugs a pillow to her chest.

Kara frowns, then grabs two slices of pizza and offers one to Alex, who takes it with a muttered thanks and starts munching.  Kara inhales her own slice and grabs another.  “So,” she says with a mouthful of pizza crust, “how was your date?”

Alex shrugs.  “It was nice.”

“Yeah?” Kara grins.  “Another date on the horizon?”

Alex shakes her head.  “She was nice, and _gorgeous_ , and a really good kisser—“

“Eugh, no, I don’t want to hear that part!”  Kara scrunches up her face in disgust.  Alex laughs and swats her with the pillow.  “What happened?”

Alex has a sad, wistful smile.  “I couldn’t stop thinking about Maggie,” she whispers, almost too quiet for Kara to hear.

Kara does hear, of course, because she has super hearing.  “I’m sorry,” she frowns.  “I just wanted you to have some fun and get your mind off Maggie.  I guess it didn’t work.”

“If it’s any consolation, I did have fun,” Alex offers, so she doesn’t think the plan was a complete failure.

Kara grins.  “Yeah?”

“Yes,” Alex says with a nod.  “But if you don’t mind, I’d rather get my mind off her and just watch a movie tonight or something.”

“Of course!” Kara lunges for the coffee table where she has a couple of DVDs waiting.  “I’m feeling Meryl Streep tonight, so we’ve got The Devil Wears Prada and Mama Mia.”

Alex scrunches up her face in concentration for a moment, contemplating her options.  “Let’s go with Mama Mia,” she says after a bit.  “The music always cheers me up.”

Kara pumps an excited fist in the air and jumps off the couch to put in the DVD.  “Just so you know I’m singing along to all the songs and you can’t stop me.”

Alex smiles endearingly at her sister.  “Go ahead.”

It’s sometime after Voulez Vous but before the wedding that Alex falls asleep.  She hadn’t realized how emotionally exhausted she was after the last few days.

Alex wakes up on Kara’s couch in the early hours of the morning with a crick in her neck.  Kara had draped a blanket over her and let Alex sprawl out across the couch once she went to bed.  It was a restful night of sleep, despite her uncomfortable position with her neck against the arm of the couch.

She squints in the morning light and rubs her eyes.  Her gaze falls to the coffee table where there’s a box of donuts and a note from Kara.

_Supergirl had to run, duty calls! Help yourself to donuts and anything in the kitchen. We’ll talk later. Love you sis!_

Alex smiles at her sister’s bubbly handwriting and grabs a donut from the box.  As soon as she takes a large bite from the donut, her phone rings.  Caller ID tells her its Maggie, so she answers it with a mouthful of sugar.

“Danvers,” Alex says, even though she already knows who it is.

“Hey,” Maggie says.  “What are you eating?”

“Donut,” Alex mumbles.  She quickly chews and swallows.  “Sorry, I kinda knocked out on Kara’s couch.  I was exhausted.”

Maggie laughs.  “Yeah, she texted me so I wouldn’t worry.”

“Were you?”

“Worried?” Maggie asks.  “Not at all.  I mean, I knew you were with your sister and you never said what time you were getting back, but when she texted it did maybe reassure—“

“Maggie, I was just teasing you,” Alex grins.  She leans forward and rests her elbows on her knees.

“Oh.”

“What’s up?” Alex asks.  “I’m assuming you called for a reason?  We got a dead body?”

“No, nothing like that,” Maggie says.  “I know you said to take my time with the whole house-hunting thing, but I found this place and I swear it’s _perfect_.”

Alex freezes with the donut halfway to her mouth.  “Oh,” she sighs.  She hadn’t thought Maggie would dive back into looking for a place to live so quickly.

“I know,” Maggie replies.  “I haven’t made any calls or set any appointments to sign a lease yet, but I really like it, and I was wondering if you could get home so you can just look at the website and tell me what you think?”

 _Home_.

Alex is starting to think of home less as her apartment and more as wherever Maggie is.

“Sure,” Alex says with a sad frown.  She doesn’t say anything for a moment, and neither does Maggie.  With a heavy sigh, Alex gets up from the couch and goes to find her shoes.  “You want a donut?”

Alex snatches a bottle of water from Kara’s fridge and grabs an extra donut for Maggie, plus one more for herself, then hops on her bike and heads home.

Maggie is still in her pajamas when Alex opens the front door.  She hasn’t put on makeup yet, and her hair is a mess, curled up on the couch with her laptop and a cup of coffee.  She doesn’t seem to hear Alex come inside, even when she closes the door, so Alex clears her throat.

“Hey.”

Maggie jumps a little, startled at the sudden noise.  “Hey, sorry,” she mutters.  “I didn’t even hear you come in.”  Alex slides onto the couch next to Maggie and kicks off her boots.  She offers Maggie a donut, who takes it graciously.  “Thanks.”

“So,” Alex says, forcing on a smile.  “Tell me about this perfect apartment.”

Maggie brings up the website and the pictures and shows her—the place has a pool and a gym, it’s dog friendly (because Maggie has been thinking about getting a dog for a while), it’s in a nice part of town, it has five star reviews online, and there’s a one bedroom place currently open and looking for a tenant.

“So?” Maggie asks, nervous smile on her face.

Alex can’t help but smile at the adorable smile on Maggie’s face and sighs.  As much as she hates to admit it, the place is perfect.  And that’s what she tells Maggie.  “I gotta say, it seems perfect.”

“Yeah?”

Alex nods.  “Yes.”

“Do you want to know the best part?” Maggie asks.

Alex quirks an eyebrow.  “It’s not the pool?” she questions.  “Or that they allow dogs?  You’ve been talking about adopting a dog for weeks.”

Maggie laughs and shakes her head.  “No, those are great.”  She bites her lip and looks away for a moment.  Is Maggie _nervous_ about something?  “It’s only two blocks from here.”

Alex pauses for a moment.  She looks at Maggie curiously.  “Here?”

Maggie nods, and Alex thinks she can see the hint of a blush on her cheeks.  “So I’m never too far.”  She clears her throat nervously.  “You know, if you ever need help on some cases.  Or want a nice home-cooked breakfast.  Whatever.”  She shrugs, and Alex feels the corners of her lips tug upwards into a grin.

Maybe Maggie doesn’t want to be too far from her either.

Alex nods her head again.  “It’s perfect,” she says.  “I think you should call the landlord right now and see when you can move in.”

Maggie grins too, then wraps her arms around Alex in a quick hug.  “Thanks, Danvers,” she says into Alex’s shoulder.  After a moment, she hops off the couch, and shoves the rest of her donut in her mouth.  Maggie grabs some toiletries and a change of clothes from her suitcase and heads for the bathroom.  “I’m gonna call and run some errands, but we’re still on for beer and movies tonight?”

“Absolutely.”

Alex watches Maggie disappear in the bathroom, and she can’t help the lingering fear that coming home is going to feel a lot more lonely in a few days’ time.

 

* * *

 

 

It takes Maggie a few days to get things sorted with the landlord—forms need to be submitted, credit checks need to be done, but soon enough it’s the day Maggie moves into her new place.

Alex wakes up to the smell of bacon.  She doesn’t think much of it until a few minutes later when she feels a dip in her mattress.

“Wake up, sleeping beauty!”

Alex groans and lifts an eyelid to find Maggie sitting on her bed with a plate of food.  “Maggie, what the hell?”

“Breakfast time!” Maggie says with an adorable grin.

Alex sits up a little and raises an eyebrow at her.  “Breakfast in bed?”

Maggie sets the plate down on the bedside table and pulls her legs up onto the bed to sit cross-legged, facing Alex.  “It’s my last day here.  I wanted to do something special.”

“Nerd.”

Maggie grins and elbows Alex in the arm.  “Shut up.  I’m trying to thank you.  You’ve done a lot for me.”

Alex shrugs bashfully.  “It’s nothing.”

“It was not _nothing_ , you went way beyond what you needed to do for me,” Maggie says.  She reaches a hand out and places it on Alex’s knee.  “Seriously, Danvers, thanks.”

Alex bites her lip and shakes her head.  “Yeah, you’re welcome.”

Maggie grins again and puts the plate in Alex’s hands.  “So you’re still going to help me move in, right?”

“Your one box of shit?” Alex scoffs.

“Hey, rude,” Maggie says with a playful glare.  “And I bought a couch from someone on Craigslist!  I’m gonna need help moving it in.”

Alex chews on a piece of bacon and moans.  Damn, she was going to miss Maggie’s cooking.  “I’m kidding, Maggie, of course I’ll help you,” she says with a mouthful of food.  “I can probably slip out of work at like four?”

“Perfect.”  Maggie hasn’t moved her hand, and Alex purses her lips and glances down at her lap.

“Come here,” Alex says, and pats the spot on the bed next to her.  “Get comfy, let’s eat.”

Maggie gives her a disappointed smile.  “I already ate,” she says, and gets up off the bed.  “I have to head in early today, but I wanted to drop this off before I left.”  She points to the plate on Alex’s lap.  “There’s more in the kitchen if you’re still hungry.”

Alex nods, trying to hide her disappointment.  “Yeah, of course.  Thanks, Maggie.”

“I’ll see you tonight, Alex.”  Maggie gives her a soft smile and a wave before she walks out of the room.

Alex waits until she hears the front door close behind Maggie to set her plate back on the bedside table and flop back in bed.  She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, breathing in the lingering smell of Maggie’s perfume.  She takes in the quiet of the house, the echo after the door closed, the eerie chill that hadn’t been there a minute ago.  It’s been ten seconds since Maggie left and she already misses her.

Alex starts her day slowly, moping, and even after three cups of coffee, she can’t shake the bad mood that lingers on her back.  It’s a boring day of paperwork at the DEO, and Alex has already snapped at three interns for misspelling something on a form.

Kara must have some sort of sixth sense on Alex’s mood because she swoops in well after lunchtime, fully knowing that Alex hasn’t eaten yet, and drops a bag of takeout on her desk.  “It’s not Chicago, but you can have one extra potsticker.”

Alex smiles in appreciation, but raises an eyebrow at her sister.  “What’s the occasion?”

“D-Day,” Kara says obviously.  Alex blinks.  Kara lowers her voice and continues.  “Maggie’s moving into her new place today, I figured you could use a pick-me-up.”

Alex chuckles softly.  “Am I that predictable?”

“I saw an intern crying in the bathroom, so yes.”  Kara leans on Alex’s desk and folds her arms across her chest.

Alex frowns.  “I didn’t mean to make her cry.”

Kara holds out a hand to Alex.  “Come on,” she says, a bright grin on her face that lights up the soul of any person who gets to see it.  “Let’s eat on the roof.”

Alex slips her hand into her sister’s, and Kara pulls her up out of her seat, and whisks Alex off to the window.  Normally, Kara would have someone meet her on the roof while she flies and they take the elevator, but Alex is always the exception to that rule.  Alex holds tightly onto their food, while Kara holds tight to her sister, and takes off out the window.  They’re on the roof in seconds, and the view from up here is almost better than the view from the balcony at Catco.  Almost.

They sit on the very ledge of the building with their feet dangling off the edge.  Normal people would feel exhilarated or terrified by being so close to falling from such a high story.  Alex knows she’s safe.  If something were to happen, if she were to slip and fall, Kara would save her in a heartbeat.  It’s not situations that put her in physical danger that scare her.

Emotionally, though, Alex is terrified.  Her feelings for Maggie have only grown over the past few weeks, and now, faced with the prospect of sudden separation from her makes Alex nervous, scared.  Sure, they’re friends, but she had grown fond of the domesticity of their relationship.

Alex and Kara eat in silence, for the most part, listening to the wind rush around them, the distant sounds of traffic from the streets below, and the occasional plane roaring overhead heading to or from the airport.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Kara asks with a mouthful of potsticker.

Alex shrugs.  “What’s there to talk about?”  She shakes her head and looks down at her lap.  “I’m hopelessly head over heels for Maggie.  She doesn’t care.  And now she’s leaving.  That’s it.”

“Come on, Alex,” Kara frowns.  “She obviously cares about you!  And you won’t know if you don’t do something.”  Alex says nothing and doesn’t look up, so Kara persists.  “Ask her out!  Tell her how you feel!  Do _something_!”

Alex takes a sip of her water and pops another potsticker in her mouth.  Kara moves the food from between them and scoots a little closer here on the ledge.  She leans in and bumps shoulders with Alex, eliciting a small smile from her.

“You’re seeing her tonight, right?”

Alex nods slowly.  “Helping her move in.”

“Tell her,” Kara says.  “She’d want to know.”

Alex scoots back to pull her legs up against her chest and buries her face in her knees.  She probably should tell Maggie.  Despite her fearlessness in almost any situation involving a gun fight or an intimidating alien, when Alex Danvers comes face to face with confronting her own emotions or letting someone else in, she shrivels up and hides away.

The sisters are jarred from their moment by a loud boom.  They look up, and see the top floor of a small office building on fire.  With another boom there’s another explosion, and the fire grows.  Kara meets Alex’s eyes, and Alex gives her a quick nod.  In the blink of an eye, Kara disappears, leaving only a strong gust of wind in her place.

Alex watches as her sister flies over to the building.  She can see the tiny outline of a red cape, darting up and down, between the top floor and the street, airlifting people out of the floor that’s on fire.  The people filing out of the building through the front doors and fire exits look like ants spilling out of a hill.  Soon, the flood of people stops, and Kara darts in and out with no one in her arms.

It's hard to tell exactly what’s happening from her distant view, but Alex’s chest swells with pride as she watches her sister save those people.  The crowd slowly grows more distant from the building, and it seems to be completely evacuated just as the fire trucks pull up.  She sees the red blur that is Supergirl move in on the building, probably to use her freeze breath to put out the fires.

Suddenly, there’s an even louder boom, and the entire building explodes, engulfed in flames.  Alex jumps up and scans the scene, but she’s lost sight of her sister in the ruckus.  When the smoke clears, she sees that the fire has spread down the block, and the last explosion brought the entire building down—but where is Kara?

Alex jumps off her spot on the roof and sprints to the stairwell, heart racing in her chest.  She has to find Kara.

By the time Alex reaches the DEO offices, Supergirl is already being rushed into the medical wing, unconscious and covered in soot and debris, but very much alive.

It was probably the impact that knocked her out, and Alex knows that this has happened before, but she rushes to Kara’s side and stays with her as they set her up under the sun lamps, letting her recharge.  Alex pulls up a chair and takes Kara’s hand, her usual position when Supergirl is out of commission.

“What was it?” Alex asks no one in particular.

J’onn puts a hand on her shoulder.  “Nothing alien, if that’s what you’re wondering.”  Alex doesn’t acknowledge him, or move, but J’onn knows that’s what she wanted to hear.  “Fire department confirms there was a gas leak.  Old building, not up to code, one thing lead to another.”  Alex nods her head, but still says nothing.  “Those people are lucky Supergirl was there.  Minor casualties, thanks to her.  You should be proud.”

“I am proud,” Alex says, curtly.  “But I’m also a sister.”

After a moment, J’onn leaves her alone with Kara.  Alex grips her sister’s hand tightly, and doesn’t move from her side for hours.

Alex doesn’t realize she fell asleep with her head on Kara’s lap until someone is poking her awake.

“Alex?”  She blinks and sits up slowly to find Kara, awake, alive, and well, looking at her with concern.

“Hey,” Alex says through a yawn.  “You’re okay.”

“You know I’m okay, idiot,” Kara frowns.  “This is not the worst I’ve been through.”

“I know,” Alex sighs.  She stretches her arms over her head and leans back in her chair, leaving Kara room to sit upright.

“Then why the heck are you still here?”  Alex’s confused expression prompts Kara to continue.  “Shouldn’t you be with Maggie?”

Alex sighs and gives Kara a smile.  “Maggie is not as important as you.  I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“And I’m fine!  See?”  Kara jumps up off the table quickly.  She does a little dance, hovers, then flies in circles around the room.  She blows her freeze breath in Alex’s face, who laughs and swats her away.

“Okay, okay, I get it!  Maybe I get a little too worried about you sometimes.”  She gets up off her chair.  “I’ll leave you alone now.  Thanks again for lunch today.”

“My pleasure,” Kara grins.  “Now, go get your girl.”  She squeezes Alex’s hand quick before Alex takes off out the door.

Alex arrives at Maggie’s new apartment half an hour later, clutching a bottle of pinot and a bouquet of flowers.  Maybe the flowers are a little overkill, but it’s too late now.  Alex takes a deep breath to quell the nerves and slow down her racing heartbeat, and she knocks at the door.

Maggie’s face makes her feel at ease, immediately, and her bright, welcoming smile warms her heart.  “Danvers!”  Maggie takes a step back and opens the door for Alex to come inside.  “I was starting to think you wouldn’t show.”

Alex steps inside and shakes her head.  “Sorry, there was an emergency at work and—“

“The explosion on Exposition, right?” Maggie asks.  Alex nods.  “Yeah, people saw Supergirl fly in, but nobody saw her leave.  There’s some rumors going around that she’s hurt.  I thought that might be where you were.”

Alex smiled.  “She’s fine now,” Alex mutters.  She offers up the bottle of wine and the flowers after a moment.  “Little housewarming gift.”

“Aw, you shouldn’t have,” Maggie gratefully takes them from her hands.  She sets the flowers on the counter, then retrieves a corkscrew from the kitchen.  “You gonna help me drink this?”

“Of course.”  Alex shrugs off her leather jacket and places it on the counter.  She scans the apartment; it’s a nice place, or it will be once it’s a little more furnished and lived-in.  She spots the blue couch in the living room.  “Sorry I couldn’t help you with that.”

“It’s fine, you were busy,” Maggie says as she twists the corkscrew into the bottle and tries to shimmy out the cork.  “Gave me a chance to meet the neighbors.  Guy across the hall is shredded.  He probably could’ve brought it up single-handedly.”  With a grunt, she finally frees the cork, and pours out two glasses of wine.  “He was surprised to find that his muscles did nothing for me, though.”

Maggie offers Alex a glass of wine, and she takes it gratefully.  “It should be a humbling experience for him, living across from a lesbian.”

The sound of Maggie’s laughter is music to her ears.  “I’ll drink to that,” she says, and clinks her glass against Alex’s.  “Come on.”  Maggie takes Alex’s hand and leads her to the couch.  They sit and Maggie pulls her legs up and sits on her feet.  “I have a TV but nothing is hooked up yet, so you’re in for kind of a boring night hanging out with me.  Sorry, Danvers.”

Maggie teasingly sticks out her tongue, but Alex just smiles.  “Doesn’t sound so boring to me,” she says, unable to draw her gaze from Maggie’s bright eyes.  She clears her throat and takes another sip of wine.  “I could, uhh, help you set up your cable, if you want?  I’m kind of handy like that.  When Kara moved into her place she couldn’t figure anything out and called me in tears because she was going to miss the new episode of _Orphan Black_.”

“And you were able to set it up in time?” Maggie asks.

Alex laughs.  “Nope.  It took hours.  I ended up having to read through the entire manual before I could figure it out, but I am now an expert and freely offer my services.”

Maggie gets an amused smile on her face, but shakes her head.  “Thanks, but maybe later.  I’m kind of tired right now, so I’d rather just, you know, chill.”

“Chill?” Alex asks teasingly.  Maggie just shrugs and takes another drink of wine, but her eyes never leave Alex.  Suddenly Alex feels flushed and nervous, so she finishes her glass of wine and jumps off the couch.  “I’m gonna get a little more.”

She pours herself a very generous glass before going to sit down again, and when she does, Maggie stretches out her legs and props her feet up on Alex’s lap.  Alex gapes at her, but Maggie gives her a challenging smirk.  The way Alex’s heart flips in her chest tells her that she’s not going to make Maggie move.  Damn feelings.

“Comfy couch,” Alex muses as she settles in again.

“It’d better be,” Maggie replies.  “I don’t have a bed yet so I’ll be sleeping here for now.”

“You don’t have a bed?”

“I’m getting one tomorrow.  I think.”  Alex frowns at her.  Maggie just shrugs.  “I’ve been sleeping on a couch for weeks, I can do it a little longer.”

“You’re going to have to get a bed eventually, Sawyer,” Alex says.  “Girls aren’t too impressed with comfortable couches.”

“You’d be surprised,” Maggie quips.

Alex nearly chokes on her drink.  She coughs quickly, and clears her throat.  She takes a breath and tries not to think about Maggie on a comfortable couch with some other girls.

“You okay, Danvers?”

Alex nods quickly and sets down her glass of wine.  “So, how was your day?” she asks, quickly changing the subject.

They fall into easy conversation, and the time passes quickly.  Alex lets herself enjoy this, sitting with Maggie, talking, joking.  It’s something that she probably won’t have again for a while.  And she _knows_ she should tell Maggie how she feels, but the fear of losing even little moments like this is enough for Alex to push those emotions down as deep inside as she can.

It's almost midnight when Alex’s phone chimes with a text from Kara.

_So? How’s it going with Maggie?_

_Are you sitting in a tree?_

_k-i-s-s-i-n-g?_

Alex rolls her eyes, but ignores the messages.

“Your sister?” Maggie asks.

“Yeah,” Alex says.  “She’s… being Kara.”

“Do you have to go?” Maggie frowns.

“No, no!” Alex quickly says.  “Unless you want me to?  You said you were tired.”

“No, I’m—I’m fine.”

The air between them is suddenly awkward, and Alex fears the night could be over any second.  Maybe the text from Kara was the push she needs.  It’s now or never, right?

“Maggie,” Alex starts.  “I—there’s something I wanted to, I mean…”

“What’s up?”

Maggie sits up, and leans in a little closer, concern in her eyes.  Those eyes, Alex sighs, one look from those eyes and her stomach gets twisted up in knots.  “You,” she breathes, then trails off.  She closes her eyes and rests her forehead in her hand.

“Hey,” Maggie whispers.  She pulls Alex’s hand away and holds it, resting their foreheads together.  “Talk to me.”

Alex relishes in the feeling of Maggie so close, breathes her in, takes her in, her eyes, her nose, her lips.  Her breathing is shallow, and her heartbeat races in her chest, and all she can think of is how much she wants to feel Maggie’s lips on her own.  So she leans in.

Kissing Maggie is like waking up on Christmas morning and finding exactly what you wanted but didn’t have the courage to ask for.  It’s like that fourth shot of tequila that pushes you past tipsy and you’re perfectly, happily, drunk.  Kissing Maggie is… is better than anything Alex has ever felt, or could have ever dreamed of feeling in her entire life.

It could be seconds, or it could be minutes, but Alex pulls back once she has the mental capacity to do so.  Maggie’s eyes are still closed, her lips parted, and Alex thinks she’s never looked more beautiful.  She bites her lip and smiles.  “So?”

Maggie clears her throat and her eyes slowly flutter open.  “That was… wow.”

“I’ve been wanting to do that for a while,” Alex confesses.  “I didn’t want—I mean, you had your not-girlfriend and then I didn’t think you could ever—you know…”  Alex stutters and fumbles over her words, and Maggie grabs her hands and holds her reassuringly.

“Hey,” Maggie says, to stop her from rambling.  “I’ve been wanting to do that too.”

“Yeah?” Alex gasps, voice barely over a whisper.

“Yeah.”

Maggie kisses her again, and Alex loses all semblance of thought.  All she knows are Maggie’s lips on hers, and Maggie’s tongue against her teeth, and Maggie’s hands, fisting in her hair, tracing the skin under her shirt.  Maggie slowly pushes forward, until she’s straddling Alex, Alex lying back on the couch beneath her, their lips never parting.  It’s weeks of pent up emotion and attraction driving them forward as their kisses grow hungrier, more frantic, and hips grind into each other’s.

Maggie’s hands fumble with Alex’s belt buckle.  “Is this okay?” she whispers against Alex’s mouth.

Alex can’t form words, so she nods furiously, and tugs Maggie’s shirt off over her head, hands finding purchase on soft skin.  Alex can see Maggie’s fingers trembling as she unzips her jeans, so Alex’s hands find her cheeks and pulls her close.  Alex kisses her softly, reassuringly, delicately, like either of them could break at any moment.  They pull way for air, and Maggie rests her forehead against Alex’s, smiling.  She kisses Alex again, sloppy and wet, and moves to her jaw, down her neck, attacking her collarbone with kisses and nips that make Alex squirm beneath her.

Maggie easily pushes Alex’s pants down her legs, and when her hand reaches to where Alex needs her the most, stroking softly, slowly building her up and up and up.

Alex comes, and retracts her previous thought.  _This_ , right here, coming down from her high with Maggie on top of her, kissing her wet and messy, hand still between her legs, this is better than anything she’s ever felt before.

 

* * *

 

Alex doesn’t sleep much that night.  Maggie keeps her busy, and the couch is _surprisingly_ comfortable to sleep on, especially when it’s two people, using discarded shirts as pillows, and a single blanket haphazardly draped over them.  They drift off to sleep just before the morning sunrise starts peeking out, and they get a couple of restful hours of sleep, but it is a work day, and soon enough, alarms start ringing.

Maggie groans and reaches for her phone on the ground to turn off the alarm.  Alex keeps her eyes firmly shut, refusing to accept the start of the day, but when soft lips find hers, she can’t help but kiss back.

“Mm,” Maggie mumbles into her lips.  “Morning, sleeping beauty.”

“You’re not going to stop with the sleeping beauty thing, are you?” Alex asks as her eyes drift open.

She sees Maggie, on top of her, hair cascading beautifully around her face, framing her perfectly in this morning light.  Maggie shakes her head.  “Nope.”  Alex wants nothing more than to kiss her again, and she can, so she does, quick and soft.

“I can’t believe we slept on the couch,” Alex groans.  “My neck is going to be sore.”

“Hey, it’s not that bad,” Maggie says.  “And if it bothers you so much, maybe you can help me find a bed later?”

Alex tilts her head and smiles.  “You want me to help you find a bed?”

Maggie shrugs.  “I mean, if you’re going to be using it too, I think you should get a say in the bed situation.”

“Hm, I like the way you think,” Alex says, and kisses Maggie on the nose.

Maggie’s confident smirk falls after a moment, and her smile turns more sheepish.  “So we’re really doing this?” she asks.  “Us?”

Slowly, Alex nods.  “I want to.”

“Me too.”

“So?”

“So.”

“We’re doing this.”  Alex grins, happier than she’s felt in a long time.  “Good luck getting rid of me now, Sawyer.”

She feels Maggie’s gaze study her, lingering on her lips, before coming back up to her eyes.  Instead of teasing more, she sighs, and smiles, and kisses Alex again.  “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

They’re probably both going to be late for work, but Alex honestly doesn’t give a damn.


End file.
